# 1970 New York Giants season

The 1970 New York Giants season was the franchise's 46th season in the NFL. This was the first season for the Giants after the AFL–NFL merger, in which ten American Football League teams joined the NFL. The team was led by second-year head coach Alex Webster. The Giants finished the season 9–5 for their first winning season since 1963, but they missed the playoffs after losing their season finale against the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 31–3. The Giants finished second in the NFC East, a game behind the Dallas Cowboys. They also finished only one game out of a wild-card playoff spot, won by the Detroit Lions.
Probably more damaging to the Giants' playoff hopes than the loss to the Rams were losses to two of the NFL's weakest teams:
The Saints finished with the NFL's second-worst record at 2–11–1 (the Giants beat the NFL's worst team of 1970, the 2–12 Boston Patriots); the Eagles were barely better at 3–10–1. The Giants also lost at home to the 6-8 Chicago Bears.
This was the closest the Giants came to qualifying for the playoffs in the 1970s. The franchise enjoyed only one other winning season in the decade, going 8–6 in 1972. Big Blue did not return to the playoffs until 1981, ending a drought which dated back to the 1963 NFL Championship.

## Offense

The 1970 Giants offense was led by Pro Bowl performers, quarterback Fran Tarkenton, and running back Ron Johnson. The team was in the top ten in several offensive categories including points, yards, and first downs. The team had over one hundred rushing yards in eleven of its fourteen games, including 202 yards in a week eight win against the Dallas Cowboys. The offense struggled when the team failed to run the ball well, as in the week fourteen loss to the Los Angeles Rams in which the Giants rushed for only 50 yards. When the team was able to run the ball and play defense they were able to win. In all their wins, they had at least 100 yards rushing. The leading passer was Fran Tarkenton, the leading rusher was Ron Johnson (the first Giant to rush for 1,000 yards in a season; 1,027), and the leading receiver was Clifton McNeil.

## Defense

The best defensive game by far for the Giants was the shutout of the Boston Patriots (2–12) in a week 5 victory. In that game, the Giants allowed only 155 total offensive yards against the team which finished the season with the league's worst record. The team leader in interceptions for the Giants was Willie Williams, who had six interceptions for 114 total interception yards.
The backbone of New York's defense was a stout front four, featuring ends Fred Dryer and Jim Kanicki and tackles Bob Lurtsema and Jerry Shay. Williams was part of a solid secondary which also included Tom Longo, Scott Eaton and Spider Lockhart. First round draft pick Jim Files moved in at the starting middle linebacker spot for the departed Henry Davis, who moved on to Pittsburgh.

## Special teams

The kicker for the Giants that season was Pete Gogolak. Gogolak was a perfect 32 of 32 in extra points but hit only 25 of 41 field goals attempted on the year, with his longest being a kick of 54 yards in week eight vs. the Cowboys, a kick which came on the same day Tom Dempsey set an NFL record with a 63-yard field goal for the Saints vs. the Lions, and 43-year-old George Blanda hit a 53-yard field goal at the gun to lift Oakland over Cleveland 23–20.
Bill Johnson and Ernie Koy shared punting duties for the Giants, and each was average for the position. Bobby Duhon and Les Shy were the main kick and punt returners, though neither returned a kick for a touchdown.

## Draft

1970 New York Giants draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 13 | Jim Files | LB | Oklahoma |
| 4 | 97 | Wes Grant | DE | UCLA |
| 5 | 117 | Claude Brumfield | OG | Tennessee St |
| 6 | 142 | Duane Miller | WR | Drake |
| 9 | 221 | Pat Hughes | C | Boston |
| 10 | 246 | Matt Fortier | DE | Fairmont St |
| 11 | 273 | Alan Pitcaithley | RB | Oregon |
| 12 | 298 | Larry Nels | LB | Wyoming |
| 13 | 325 | Gary Inskeep | OT | Wisconsin–Stout |
| 14 | 350 | Rodney Brand | C | Arkansas |
| 15 | 377 | Warren Muir | RB | South Carolina |
| 16 | 402 | Vic Notling | DB | Xavier |
| 17 | 429 | Walter Breaux | DT | Grambling |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 19 | Chicago Bears | L 16–24 | 0–1 | Yankee Stadium | 62,936 |
| 2 | September 27 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 10–28 | 0–2 | Cotton Bowl | 57,236 |
| 3 | October 4 | at New Orleans Saints | L 10–14 | 0–3 | Tulane Stadium | 69,126 |
| 4 | October 11 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 30–23 | 1–3 | Yankee Stadium | 62,820 |
| 5 | October 18 | at Boston Patriots | W 16–0 | 2–3 | Harvard Stadium | 39,091 |
| 6 | October 25 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 35–17 | 3–3 | Yankee Stadium | 62,984 |
| 7 | November 1 | at New York Jets | W 22–10 | 4–3 | Shea Stadium | 63,903 |
| 8 | November 8 | Dallas Cowboys | W 23–20 | 5–3 | Yankee Stadium | 62,938 |
| 9 | November 15 | Washington Redskins | W 35–33 | 6–3 | Yankee Stadium | 62,915 |
| 10 | November 23 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 20–23 | 6–4 | Franklin Field | 59,117 |
| 11 | November 29 | at Washington Redskins | W 27–24 | 7–4 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | 50,415 |
| 12 | December 6 | Buffalo Bills | W 20–6 | 8–4 | Yankee Stadium | 62,870 |
| 13 | December 13 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 34–17 | 9–4 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,845 |
| 14 | December 20 | Los Angeles Rams | L 3–31 | 9–5 | Yankee Stadium | 62,870 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Dallas Cowboys | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 5–3 | 7–4 | 299 | 221 | W5 |
| New York Giants | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 6–2 | 6–5 | 301 | 270 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 5–3 | 6–5 | 325 | 228 | L3 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 3–5 | 4–7 | 297 | 314 | W2 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 10 | 1 | .231 | 1–7 | 1–9–1 | 241 | 332 | W1 |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Season summary
### Week 1 vs Bears

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| Giants | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
* Date: September 19
* Game time: 8:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: Clear, 71 °F (22 °C)
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV announcers (WBBM): Brent Musburger and Jerry Kramer
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
NYG – Pete Gogolak 25-yard field goal. Giants 3–0.
CHI – Cecil Turner 95-yard kickoff return (Mac Percival kick). Bears 7–3.
NYG – Ron Johnson 12-yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Pete Gogolak kick). Giants 10–7.
Second quarter
NYG – Pete Gogolak 20-yard field goal. Giants 13–7.
CHI – Mac Percival 28-yard field goal. Giants 13–10.
Third quarter
CHI – Jack Concannon 1-yard run (Mac Percival kick). Bears 17–13.
Fourth quarter
NYG – Pete Gogolak 45-yard field goal. Bears 17–16.
CHI – Dick Gordon 19-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick). Bears 24–16.
Top passers
CHI – Jack Concannon – 15/29, 148 yards, TD, INT
NYG – Fran Tarkenton – 23/39, 277 yards, TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
CHI – Gale Sayers – 17 rushes, 43 yards
NYG – Ron Johnson – 13 rushes, 24 yards, TD
Top receivers
CHI – Bob Wallace – 6 receptions, 82 yards
NYG – Ron Johnson – 8 receptions, 85 yards, TD :